look here, the first snowfall of the season here in new york city at the famous rockefeller center christmas tree. it's all good. that's it for this hour of msnbc live. speaking of things we love, right now, "am joy" with my friend, joy reid. how many people here are from the great state of alabama? [ cheers ] whoa. we cannot afford -- this country, the future of this country cannot afford to lose a seat in the very, very close united states senate. we can't afford it, folks. we need somebody in that senate seat who will vote for our make america great again agenda.

so get out and vote for roy moore. good morning. welcome to "am joy." with just three days to go before the alabama election, donald trump gave his endorse. for roy moore, the guy he believes will make america great again. the polls are competitive giving democratic candidate, doug jones, a decent chance of rating. jones is up by 4 points. but in the most recent emerson poll, he's just about. despite all of this, many voters in alabama believe in trump who is the man who says he wants to make america great again. >> what does trump mean what

does he mean when he says make it great again? >> i think it was great at a time when the families were united, even though we had slavery, they cared for one another. people were strong in the families. our families were strong. our country had a direction, and we corrected many of the problems. >> oh, dear. joining me now are our guests. normally i do ladies first, but i want to go to john first. do you have a read on whether either of these two candidates has the momentum? >> i think republicans in the state are frustrated. they're tired of being taken for granted by the republican party. roy moore is running a campaign of vote for me, i'm not the other guy.

when you look at how the republicans have governed in the state for the last year and a half, we had a governor resign in disgrace, the speaker of the house indicted for corruption charges, and roy moore having step down from the supreme court for failure to comply with federal law. i think the fact he's running a campaign that's built on not what he believes or not actively courting the republican vote, but just vote for me, i'm not a democrat, that's frustrating republicans, and it's frustrating his potential future cle colleague in the senate. they're not running on roy moore's record, not running on his bleefeliefs, but trusting t people will vote for him because he's republican. >> we talked in the break, and i'll break it out that we were

talking about -- bring our private conversation forward, we were talking about the situation of the yearbook. so beverly young, one of the accusers of roy moore, put forward a yearbook that was a signature to her, roy moore would have been in his 30s. to which apparently she added some notes. she added a date so that according to her so she could remember when it was that that signature was made. that's now caused controversy. let's listen to her attorney, gloria aeria alred. >> according to a document examiner, the signature and the handwritten notation above the signature were prepared by roy moore. we did not ask the expert to examine the printing after the cursive writing, and signature, because beverly indicates she added that to remind herself of who roy moore was, and where and

when mr. moore signed her yearbook. >> okay. politico, you know, did a correction. they did a piece correcting the record saying that nelson did not admit to forging the signature on the yearbook. that's been cleared up. here's how donald trump has been handling that situation. >> i have to say this. i have to be fair. did you see what happened today? you know the yearbook? did you see that? there was a little mistake made. she started writing things in the yearbook. oh, what are we going to do? gloria allred, any time you see her, you know something's gone wrong. >> donald trump is pushing the conspiracy theory that this woman forged roy moore's signature this will just fuel anyone in the state that doesn't want to believe his eight accusers. >> donald trump is not exactly an example of example of

voracity. most of his campaign was run on untruths. it wasn't only donald trump. conservative media also pushed this. there was a misleading headline on fox news when this came out, that said roy moore accuser forged the inskrcription in the yearbook which was false. she simply put in, as you mention, an annotation of the date and where. as somebody who blooefelieves t accusations against roy moore, that doesn't take away that the signature was from roy moore. she should have mentioned that in thennouncement came out, saying roy moore wrote this, i wrote the date to remember the occasion. that way conspiracy hetheorists

couldn't discredit this. it's part of the ecochamber going on already. it's not surprising that 70% of alabamians don't believe these accusers. that's because donald trump, roy moore, conservative media has laid the foundation to discredit mainstream media and anything that comes from outside is not true in alabama. they close off hearing anything, even if it's credible or factual it came from the "washington post" t must be untrue. this adds fuel to the fire. >> donald trump and he -- he doesn't believe he's on the access hollywood tape anymore. >> he's a notorious liar. >> this morning he tweeted a big contingent of very enthusiastic roy moore fans at the rally last night. we can't have a pelosi schumer

liberal democrat jones in that important alabama seat. i suspect what you will say, kate, when you're having a conversation about conspiracy theories over the yearbook, you're not winning the senate race in alabama, and this gives people support for what they want to do, which is vote for roy moore and help people cleanse their consciences in doing so. am i right about that? >> there's so much to unpack. alabama is a wonderful state. donald trump shoved his chips in for luther strange. now he had to come back and he's for roy moore. this is about the tax package. donald trump needs the tax package passed. he will need that vote. he's campaigning. alabama is a state that awarded mitt romney a 22.victory over barack obama. donald trump a 28 victory over lk hk. if you lose 25 points of his support, roy moore still wins.

the fact that they think there's republican fatigue, there's political fatigue out there. not republican fatigue. the al franken story, john c conye conyers, roy moore, all of that is soaking in now. so i would tell you roy moore got back in the game when the rest of these allegations and these resignations, all the elite confusion pouring in to alabama, i think roy's back in it again. i think donald trump didn't shove his chips in without seeing some poll numbers. knowing that he can move his supporters to get the vote on the tax package. then washington has problem number two. the senators are going to have to deal with roy moore when he comes in there. the democratic party sort of wins either way on this. if they were to win the seat with jones, which i don't really know where lease cohe's coming who what his message is except he's not roy moore and that's

not good enough to win the election. at the end of the day, it's alabama's senator, it's not the united states, it's alabama's senator. i will predpiblict that roy moo will probably win an never get re-elected in alabama in a primary in a regular cycle. >> i think republicans will take to him just fine and they'll live with him. he's one of theirs. eric, you're there, you're in birmingham. talk a bit about these prognostications that somehow non-white voters can save the day for the democratic candidate, which it doesn't seem possible. there's a graph that shows in the "washington post" that shows the positive correlation between the percentage of white voters in the district, the x axis, and the percentage of votes for donald trump in 2016. the reality is african-americans are 26% of the population, the voting population.

white voters are solidly republican. so isn't it the case that this is about what white voters in alabama, what republican voters are willing to accept? >> this is definitely a case about what white voters want in the state of alabama. democrats have not won a statewide election of this sort within 15, 20 years. what we're facing is the roy moore coalition. these people love roy moore. he could do almost no wrong. when he beat luther strange, like luther strange stole something, luther won birmingham, huntsville, the cities, roy moore's coalition, they're in the rural counties, the bible belt. the people who love to go to church on sundays, the one who want to build the wall and keep brown people out of the united states. those are his people. those people are coming to vote. the ones not answering poll

questions. when he beat luther strange, they had luther strange winning this race before the election. then roy moore came back and won even though trump as president came to the state of alabama and held rallies for luther strange, appeared in luther strange ads, roy moore still won. >> that point about the bible belt, there was a heinous and notorious defense of roy moore's sexual pedophilia -- you know, going after young girls. the defense was take joseph and mary. mary was a teenager and joseph was an adult carpenter, and they were the parents of jesus, which is anti-biblical because mary is supposed to be a virgin. let's listen to a roy moore supporter supporting roy moore even if he did it. >> 40 years ago in alabama, it was a different world. 40 years ago in alabama people could get married at 13 and 14 years old. my grandmother at 13 was

married, at 15, had two children and a husband, and a job. you know, if roy moore was guilty, if he was at the mall, hitting on this 14-year-old, 40 years ago in alabama, there's a lot of mamas and daddies that would be thrilled that their 14-year-old was getting hit on by a district attorney. >> and scene. we have one minute left. i will go around the horn and give everybody a chance to predict the outcome of this election between roy moore and doug jones. tara? >> i think roy moore will probably win because of statements just like that. culturally this was more accepted than people wanted to admit. you see this excuse making. it's despicable. i don't know how many parents would be thrilled about their 14 dating a 30-year-old guy. this is the cultural differences we are battling in alabama whether they want to admit it or not. >> katon, you already said roy moore will win. is it going to be a squeaker or will he win going away? >> 10 million to 1 million wins

judge moore shouldn't win. i understand alabama better than most, i suspect the turnout will come for roy moore in the rural areas. watch montgomery county and jefferson county. watch those two counties, you'll find out. i suspect judge moore wins. i suspect when 2020 comes around, judge moore gets defeated. >> john? >> you know, i don't make political predictions, but i think it's a toss up. the doug jones campaign is outworking the roy jones campaign, they're canvassing, phone banking like hell. roy moore has not been seen in a few days. the idea that his campaign is down to about six staffers, most are not from alabama. the idea this is somehow the alabama choice, i think is wrong. >> all right. eric? >> i believe roy moore will win, unfortunately. doug jones, his campaign has been doing a lot of mailers, texts, phone calls, but they're missing the message.

they expect black folks to save the day in this election. that won't happen. the message is off point. roy moore's people from the rural counties will come out and remember, the person who said this is mary and joseph correlation that was a preacher. those are the people they're paying attention to on sunday morning to go and vote for roy moore. >> preacher in name only, i think we could say. >> i'm not saying it was, i'm saying the preacher said it. >> i quoted eric guster in a piece i wrote for the daily beast about this, that the doug jones is hammering on the four little girls prosecution. he has a couple days to expand that message. thank you all for being here. >> coming up, the democrats throw al franken overboard. that's next.

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i, of all people, am aware that there's some irony in the fact that i am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the oval office, and a man who has repeatedly preyed on young girls campaigns

for the senate with the full support of his party. but this decision is not about me. it's about the people of minnesota. >> on thursday, minnesota senator al franken announced he will resign in the coming weeks in the wake of a sixth accusation from a woman who said he made an improper sexual advance towards her. franken's fate was all but sealed when many of his senate democratic colleagues joined the growing calls for him to step down. his resignation follows the retirement announcement of congressman john conconnier connier conyers. five women improved conyers of improper sexual advances and inproem yi inappropriate behavior. trent franks announced his immediate resignation on friday

after house officials learned he asked two female employees to be surrogates for his child. one woman says he offered her $5 million. and there's an ethic investigation against blake farenhold after he settled a sexual harassment claim by his former communications director this as republicans prepare to welcome accused child molester roy moore to the senate this week. joining me now is tara, jess mcintosh and cornell belcher. jess, you worked for senator franken for a number of years. >> for four years, that first campaign, which lasted over three years. and then in the senate for a year. >> do you think he was thrown under the bus? >> i think he made the right

decision, i think he had to listen to his female democratic colleagues. i think this is sad. democrats are losing an important powerful voice in senator franken. i think that he did the right thing for the moment that we are in. i think listening to his speech, he wanted to make sure we had this cultural conversation about this important issue. i think that we'll be debating a long time whether or not it was fair to him. but i want to make sure the democratic party makes this count. if we are going to set this principle and we are going to lose this one, we need to make sure that the people who we support to fill these seats are strong, progressive women. we need to make sure we have more women in leadership this is not just about taking on guys. we need to make sure we're as out in this argument regarding the other side as we are in our own ranks. >> you think it's important that a woman replaces him. >> i think it is. he seems to think it will

happen. >> one of the things happening, one of the reasons democrats made this political calculation is things like this. this is a tweet from a pro roy moore super pac. politico pushed this out. al franken has proven roy moore is innocent. these abusers don't stop. it's a way of life. that's why they have been forced to admit their misdeeds. al franken? the last accuser said he held her around her side. is now the person who exonerates alleged serial child molester roy moore? that insane equivalency is what republicans will use. but it works. why does that work? >> perception is reality. that's something you learn early on in politics, which is why political communication and messaging is so important, so heavily invested in, because if you can convince people those things are morally equivalent,

this doesn't matter if they are or not. it's about what they think. for folks in alabama, looking for an excuse to dismiss roy moore's accusations, this gives that to them, even if it's terribly deceptive. i think that the -- the al franken resignation was clearly politically expedient for democrats because they recognized they could smash the moral high ground away from republicans, what little bit they had left after electing donald trump. you would think that the credible accusations against a child predator would be enough, but apparently it's not. we set the bar at a new low. and it begs the question of how debased our electorate has become since this is what we're engaging in democrats are looking at 2018, 2020 because they know this will hurt republicans with women voters nationally.

roy moore, if he wins -- even if he doesn't win, the fact that the rnc financed him, it's an albatro albatross. the key parts of the electorate that republicans need are white married women, white educated women and millennials who they are losing right now. just look at the virginia race, election results, you see how republicans lost those demographics by double digits. going into 2018 and 2020, you can't lose those demographics. >> i want to make sure democrats are as hard -- i know they can't hold republicans accountable, but i wanted to make sure they're speaking on it as hard as they are on their own side now. >> joy, can i jump in -- >> i wish we had a pollster, we do. cornell belcher jump in here. wanted to push back a bit on the political calculation. when you look at what those democratic women in the senate

and their back and forth conversation, this is because those women stood up and said, no enough is enough this is not about what the leadership is doing this is about women in power making something happen. >> cornell -- let me ask you a question, isn't it -- you know, yes, sure. i think there's genuine outrage among women about what's going on generally in terms of men behaving predatorially. the trent franks story is alleging he tried to per said an aide by having her read an article about knowing how to know someone is in love with you. the idea that democrats took all of that, roy moore potentially being a child molester. i didn't see lisa murkowski to say maybe donald trump should face the same sort of consequences that al franken did? didn't democrats decide they wanted a clean shot at roy moore and donald trump so franken had to go? >> no. i'm saying -- yes as often as it

is politically, but to say those democratic women who were ticked off about what was happening and waiting for senate leadership to make a move, they stepped out and they did it, right? they did it out of principle. i think we miss that when we make this about a political calculation. we become so cynical when women act in unison, we make it about a political calculation. those women who made that move, that was not a political calculation. >> is it a political calculation that lisa murkowski has a lot to say about al franken but zip, nada about donald trump? >> of course, it's obvious. i've been in politics for 20 plus years. i worked in washington for over 20 years. of course it is. i'm sure for some of fleedz wom these women they were sick and tired of it. if that were the case, nancy pelosi would not have made the

case of john conyers being a civil rights icon on a sunday show. >> let's -- >> they had to get cover first. >> don't take what leadership does -- look, whenever big things happen, it doesn't happen because of leaders. by the way, john conyers is an icon, but he also should be held responsible for what he does. >> she used that as an excuse instead of taking a hard position on the conyers situation. in the house and senate, yes, leadership makes a huge difference because you're one of 100 nin the senate and leadershp dictates what is going on. >> i'm happy our party is willing to have this intensely uncomfortable conversation, because that's what's necessary at the moment. at the same time we need to say that the president is a sexual predator and they're cheering for a child predator.

>> the president's accusers are waiting for their moment as well. >> this is a backlash to the fact that we elected a plan who had admitted doing this. >> and now says it wasn't him on the tape. interesting times. tara will be back in the next hour. up next, george popodopolous says he is no choir boy. my experience with usaa has been excellent. they always refer to me as master sergeant. they really appreciate the military family, and it really shows. we've got auto insurance, homeowners insurance. had an accident with a vehicle, i actually called usaa before we called the police. usaa was there hands-on very quick very prompt. i feel like we're being handled as people that actually have a genuine need.

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>> will the president be happy with the story george tells? >> i don't -- i think it's right to dismiss george as a coffee boy, so i'm sure he is not happy to read that, he was not a coffee boy. >> the fiancee of the campaign manager george papadopoulos is standing by her man. trump dismissed papadopoulos calling him a young low level ro volunteer. in an interview with abc, his

fiancee portraying a different role. >> he never took any initiative without prior approval. >> was he in conversation with steve bannon? >> yes, steve bannon, michael flynn. he was in touch with general flynn? >> yes, as well. >> this is by e-mail? by phone calls? >> being based in london, there was always communication by e-mail. >> joining me are nick ackerman, and malcolm nance. thank you for being here. nick, this idea of trying to dismiss george papadopoulos as a nobody. here is an instagram from donald trump in 2016 showing george papadopoulos sitting there near donald trump with the national security team. is it -- as a he'll matter this strategy of trying to minimize this cooperating witness, will

it work? >> it will get him nowhere. george papadopoulos, he was there. you got photograph of him being there. he's going to be corroborated by mike flynn who will say the same thing. he basically started off by saying that they approached him in april of 2016. that's when he learned about the stolen dnc e-mails. and we know that that has carried on throughout the entire investigation. that the stolen dnc e-mails came up through wikileaks. we have conversation with roger stone, with the president, don jr., kushner relating the same e-mails. he's corroborated by other corrt the end of the dau i'm sure mueller will have other witnesses saying the same thing. it's hard to say the guy is a liar. he admitted to lying, he's just a coffee boy, he will be singing the same tune as everybody else,

and he will be corroborated by independent evidence, which consists of the e-mails and the other testimony and just the photographs. >> yeah. you're saying he was first approached in april of 2016, that's a month after that photo. so he's pictured with the national security team and then in contact after that. the story will be corroborated by everyone who tells the truth to the fbi and mueller's team when questioned. we know the fbi warned hope picks has the russian outreach efforts show that after american intelligence agencies accused moscow of trying to influence the presidential eratives were ed in their effort to establish contacts with mr. trump's

advisers. >> they need to go back and extrapolate who would all the players have to be, where do they intersecting? we have an intelligence tool called analysis work station. you can put in one individual, as you gather intelligence, it makes up all of the linkages to the other players. going after papadopoulos was a smart strategy. i'm sure mueller knew they would call him a low level guy, but he touched into all of the other big players, there was documentary evidence, and they knew he would crack immediately as soon as they arrested him. he did. now you have mike flynn, who is a high level player, papadopoulos who is apparently a mid level player corroborating all of each other's evidence, and showing where all of these new nodes of technically conspiracy are all at right now.

steve bannon right now has got to be thinking how do i get out of this? do i tell the truth or do i lie and go to prison? every person in this story is now confronted with those two facts. mueller has far more information than any of us know. >> absolutely. one people confronted with these facts and chosen a creative way of trying to get out of it is the son of donald trump, similarly named donald trump jr. this is adam schiff on wednesday talking about trying to invoke attorney client privileges. >> he acknowledged having discussed the june 9th meeting and the e-mails that went into establishing that meeting after those e-mails became public. he acknowledged discussing that matter with his father, but refused to answer questions about that discussion on the basis of a claim of attorney

client privilege. in my view, there's no attorney client privilege that protects a discussion between father and son. >> is there attorney client privilege between father and son? >> there's no daddy dearest privilege. that does not exist. the fact that a lawyer is present doesn't even mean the privilege exists. >> the fact this reaches into the family, it will make it difficult if jump jr. is compelled to testify and he corroborates what george papadopoulos is saying. >> yeah. it makes it difficult, also expree expressly why trump has put his family members in the administration, ivanka and jared and ran the campaign through donald trump jr. family members are the least likely to sell you out, are the most likely to keep secrets. i think donald trump jr. spent his entire life trying to please his father.

they had a tumultuous relationship. he spoke to "vanity fair" when he was 12 years old saying his father didn't love him. he only loved money. i think on other occasions blurted out trump's many russian ties, whether financial ties back in the 2000s or eventually by putting e-mails on twitter. so donald trump jr. is a liability to the trump family but a gift to bob mueller and others who have been investigating this case. >> it does seem, malcolm, a lot to of the attempts to reach donald trump went through his son by russia. >> yeah. you're right. donald trump jr. is another one of those people who will come out as a key node in this operation. we have three e-mail chains which are critical. the meeting of the lawyer, the russian lawyer, veselnitskaya, donald trump jr. was at the top of the chain that means that

donald trump trusted an immediate family member who was not jared kushner for these dirty trick campaigns. when the fbi conducts these family organization plots, they generally label these continuous criminal enterprises. that's what we have here. we have an interwoven series of family members and cronies who created a criminal enterprise to either cover up information, get stolen information, and engineer this election. >> they were not just all getting coffee. thank you guys. >> my pleasure. coming up, donald trump causes rage from jerusalem to mississippi. more "am joy" next. the service. i outrank him. (chris) [laughs] yeah. meals on wheels reaches so many people. it's impactful beyond anything i've ever done in my life.

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♪ >> in january, while donald trump was delivering his inaugural address, his then national security adviser, michael flynn, was texting a business associate assurances that policies towards russia were as good as reversed. the "washington post" is reporting that that is the story told to congressional varts

investigators by a witness. existing u.s. sanctions against russia would be "ripped up by the trump administration." the witness providing that account to elijah cummings. this is pretty shocking stuff. not only the idea that the sanctions would be ripped up, but according to this whistle blower account, that this business partner, mr. alex c copson said the u.s. would provide military support to defend these installations. this would also provide a pretext for placing military forces in these countries and explaining they'd be better when we recolonize the middle east. your thoughts? did you see this as a serious thing that michael flynn was

saying would happen? >> i see it as a very serious thing, joy. basically what flynn, i think he was doing, if everything pans out according to this whistle blower, they were trying to get these sanctions removed. because they were trying to promote this deal with russia, that is partners of flynn's were trying to promote a deal that would build nuclear reactors with russia in the middle east. but they had to make sure that he got the sanctions removed so the russian corporate type partners could participate. it's about money and it's very serious. it's about trying to alter u.s. foreign policy, by the way. >> when you say getting the sanctions removed, was it your understanding that flynn was putting on the table the sanctions that the obama

administration had just put on expelling 35 russian nationals, those sarn those sanctions or the magnitsky act sanctions? >> we're not sure of all the sanctions they wanted removed, but we do know that they wanted to make sure things were freed up for these corporate folk in russia to participate. it's about money. that's why we have asked the types of questions that you're asking are the same kind of questions we want answers to. we've been trying to get answers and documents from the white house since march and we have not been able to get anything, zero. republicans are not helping us at all. >> you sent a letter to the chairman of the committee asking for clarification and help from the republican side of the aisle that runs things in the house.

have you gotten any response or help from your republican colleagues? >> we haven't gotten any help, no response. what chairman goudy as said is he has basically refused to even meet with this whistle blower who came to us in great fear, but she felt like she was doing something that was important for our country. when the whistle blower came forward, they made it clear that they would talk to gowdy if he agreed to keep their identity secret. and he has not agreed to talk to her at all. >> so what is the recourse -- >> we're the whistle blower committee. we are the committee that handles more whistle blowers than any committee.

>> just to seat the scene here, how many investigations did trey gowdy run on benghazi? do you remember? >> oh my god, i can't each begin t -- even begin to count. but the money we spent interviewing probably 100 witnesses. and they will not lift a finger. i've said it before and it pains me to say this but i think they are basically acting as defense counsel for president trump. >> it's pretty shocking. to your knowledge, is the mueller investigation -- clearly they're way air of this whistle blower. du do you know if this whistle blower has spoken to bob mueller or plans to? >> i know mueller is aware of it. as a matter of fact, he is aware of every syllable in that letter

that i sent to gowdy. he asked us to hold up on releasing that letter for two or three weeks as a matter of fact until he went through certain investigatory steps. once he went through those steps he then said his investigation was over on that part. so we were free to do this. as to conversations they may have had, i don't know. >> thank you for joining me. have a great weekend. up next, donald trump's dangerous campaign promise comes to fruition. don't go away. i just got my cashback match, is this for real? yep. we match all the cash back new cardmembers earn at the end of their first year, automatically. whoo! i got my money! hard to contain yourself, isn't it?

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the united states took this step in full knowledge that it will raise questions and concerns. our actions are intended to help advance the cause of peace. we must recognize that peace is advanced, not set back when all parties are honest with each other. our actions reflected an honest assessment of reality. welcome back. at an emergency meeting of the u.n. security council on friday,

nikki haley defended donald trump's decision to recognize jerusalem as israel's capital. haley's statement came on the same day palestinians and israeli troops engaged in dozens of clashes on the west bank and the gaza border. dozens of other people were injured in the clashes, including a 6 month old child in gaza who's now in critical condition. trump announced wednesday his controversial plan to relocate the embassy to jerusalem, up ending decades of u.s. foreign policy. the vatican, the kremlin, turkey, jordan and more believe the move will lead to massive unrest in the region. the status of jerusalem is perhaps the most sensitive issue in the israel/palestinian conflict. joining me now is journalist and commentator bobby gosh and james

cunningham. first, let's start by reading the statements from the palestinian president ababass o friday. this is what benjamin netanyahu had to say. >> this has been our goal from israel's first day. president trump, thank you for today's historic decision to recognize jerusalem as israel's capital. the jewish people and the jewish state will be forever grateful. >> i think there is no sort of clearer picture of the u.s. having cleanly taken sides than what you just saw. what do you think this does to whatever we now call the peace process? >> there's no more peace process.

the peace process has been dead for a while. negotiation has not produced any effect on the ground. basically this is the bullet in the heart of the peace process and the two-state solution. it's over. we are looking at the one-state reality whether we want it or not, whether israel want it or not, it is de facto by national state and now palestinians are moving into looking at full -- basically demanding full rights and equal rights for all palestinians, including voting rights. that means millions of palestinians will be entitled to vote in the next election in a one-state solution. the truth is americans and donald trump and his idea with roy moore and bannon to have segregated america or more ethnoreligious projects. they are telling them, look, for

centuries you have been ghettoized all over the world. let's basically never put in ghettos any ethnic minorities or any religious minorities. the people who endorse this move, they have to endorse equal rights for the palestinians. otherwise, you want segregation for one group and you want domination for another. >> so to that very point, ambassador cunningham, fellow members that had your job, nearly every former u.s. ambassador to israel disagrees with what was just done. all but 2 out of 11 former ambassadors to israel contacted the "new york times" after trump's decision to recognize jerusalem as the israeli capital calling the process deeply flawed. do you agree with those ambassadors? >> i was one of those former ambassadors. this is a serious mistake.

the trump administration now has a high bar to overcome. if they're arguing that this step was taken in pursuit of advancing the peace process or stability in the region, they certainly have yet to demonstrate or to make a convincing argument that that's the case. for most people, i think it's clear that this makes the situation in the region much more complicated, much more difficult to work through. it's hard to see how this advances israel's security or the safety of the united states or the region, which is what we should be focused on. >> are we now -- is this now a situation where the united states has given up on the idea of two states for two people and we're now looking at a future in which israel is going to have to give full rights to palestinians and live in a state where jewish israelis may not be the majority? >> i think the u.s. is not

effectively been behind a two-state solution for a while now. this underlines that point, puts a full stop at the end of the sentence. i'm more concerned about the global implications of this. this was done in such a knee jerk, unpredictable fashion. this was part of a larger project. that's one thing. but this is something that was announced practically overnight. the palestinians didn't know this was coming. how do you go from this knee jerk almost random decision to then having any kind of role in a proper negotiation process? i think unfortunately the united states has taken itself off the table in any kind of serious peace negotiations and it's not clear who takes that report. >> there was also reporting that donald trump didn't really understand the policy. and that even when his own team

were talking to him about the implications of this, he just wanted to seem pro-israel and keep a campaign promise. >> that's always been american policy. this does not make it pro israel. the long-term implications of in are not necessarily good for israel. it's not good for the region. the best thing for israel is to have stability around the region as well as within israel. >> if you could just explain to our viewers who may not be as familiar with sort of the history of what's going on between the israelis and palestinians, what are the limitations on palestinians who live in the west bank and gaza in terms of their exercise of citizenship inside of israel as it is now? >> there's no -- i mean, we are looking at a reality on the ground where you have basically segregated palestinians. so you have gaza. it's an open air prison where

palestinians are not allowed to be out of gaza whenever they wanted. so they have a blockade on the sea. and israel controls basically the air space, the borders, the sea, the shores, everything. when they say they left gaza, they basically left the city center and it's surrounded everywhere. in the west bank and the occupied territories, it's an occupation. so basically you have a marshall l -- law. even the mayor is not allowed to leave his own home without permission. the real president is an israeli general who controls the life of palestinians. then you have east jerusalem. there are 320,000 palestinians in east jerusalem, christian and muslim who muslims who live basically under israeli occupations. what president trump did, he

empowered the most radical factions in the region. basically you have hezbollah, al qaeda. basically this is a declaration of war on 1.5 million muslims. that's why it's scary. bobby is right. they did not think of this move in terms of geopolitics. probably they wanted to help roy moore win the election. >> in addition to that, there were already some questions of jared kushner being the lead negotiator given just recently he did not disclose his family had funded settlement construction. did the u.s. have credibility even before this happened? was there a lot of confidence in the u.s. being an honest broker anyway before this announcement was made? >> well, i think it hasn't been clear what the administration

has been trying to achieve in the region. certainly the people that are primarily involved in this aren't very experienced in the politics or dynamics, not only of the israel/palestinian issue but the politics of the region as well. but there is an important point that there isn't any other country that can play the role that the united states can play in the region, can play with israel and its partners in the region. that's why i think this decision is fundamentally so flawed, because we should be working with israel and our arab partners in the region on how to strengthen security and stability in the region. this is a great distraction from that effort. >> there's been an overall move toward europe maybe taking leadership in terms of world affairs, of angela merkel and macron stepping forward as the u.s. has receded. is this a situation where european leadership might be able to step forward and take on

the role that we used to play as the broker of something like a peace? >> someone's going to have to try if the u.s. will vacate that role. the vacuum has to be filled with somebody. i'm not terribly confident that the germans or the french can pull this off. i don't think they have enough credibility with all sides right there. the u.s. traditionally has had this role for a reason. it's not just economic force or military force. there's also been a force of ideas, a force of what america stands for. i ideally hope the europeans will at least try as a stopgap measure to fill this gap, but i'm not optimistic. >> what's the worst case scenario what could happen next? >> the worst case scenario has already taken place. the two-state solution effectively is now over. there's no hope of a revival. it's been over for a long time, but there was some hope, however small, that it could be brought back onto the table. the table's gone.

the worst has already happened. the street protests we're now seeing, i think that in time they will die down. the arab states will make their peace with this because they've got other bigger problems, notably iran. so they will make an accommodation with this. this will become part of reality. but the two-state solution now being finished, that's not good for anybody. >> bobby makes the point about the other arab nations around that have not seemed to always be too helpful to the palestinian people. is there a chance here that you're going to see more concern? or are they just focused on iran so that once again the palestinians will be left to just deal with this on their own? >> the arabs were busy fighting each other in yemen and syria and libya and elsewhere. however, donald trump's move united them. for the first time, 57 arab countries -- not because they love the palestinians, not because they really care about

the palestinians, but because they understand the mood in their streets. once you touch jerusalem, which there's no clear core of that conflict, their people, meaning millions of arabs, 300 million arabs and muslim who live in the middle east will rise up. and they cannot control that popular uprising. this is what they are scared of. suddenly the arabs are united, whether we have condemnation from iran, saudi arabia the same day. basically the united states, while they're relinquishing their role and leadership in the region, basically they utilitied the arabs for the first time. my fear is that this really will turn to a massive violent acts all over the world, all over the muslim world. we saw in bangladesh, we saw in pakistan and elsewhere people basically rising up. now every embassy is endangered,

every embassy, every consulate, every american soldier overseas is in danger because of that decision. >> it's worth pointing out it's not just the arab muslims who are upset by this. today we heard that the coptic christian church in egypt has refused to meet mike pence when he goes there. arab christians are just as disappointed in this decision as muslims are. >> is there an israeli left? inside of israel is there discomfort at all with this decision? >> i'm sure there is. i know there is. this does -- as other guests have noted, i hope this two-state solution is not dead, but it certainly makes the prospect of launching any meaningful process of resurrecting it much more difficult. that is bad for israel, i believe and many others believe

that the alternative to a two-state solution at some point -- and that's in the future because this is no real negotiation now. but the alternatives are all bad. >> we are out of time. i'm going to give you a quick last word. >> the declaration of the independence of israel, basically called for equal rights for all inhabitants of the land. regardless of their ethnicity and religion. now we're in a one-state reality. the delusion of the two states should seize to exis-- cease to coming up, we'll explain how rich donors are shaping u.s. foreign policy. un-stop right there!

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well, i know for a fact there are a lot of happy people in this room. jerusalem, we wish you a very happy hanukkah. and i think this one will go down as especially special. >> donald trump celebrated his first hanukkah in the white house one day after formally

recognizing jerusalem as the capital of israel. his decision has long been the goal of two key groups of trump supporters,evangelical christians and conservative backers of israel. sheldon addleson donated more than $20 million to the campaign after donald trump vowed to move the u.s. embassy to jerusalem. he had reportedly been frustrated that the move hadn't happened sooner. in addition to sheldon addleson, there is this other part of the trump base that is really excited about this move. i want to read you something from one of the more liberal publications in israel. it says in order to truly understand the centrality of this three logical dog whistle to trump's base you must take this seriously.

this is strvital because rebuilg the temple would initiate the end time laid out in the book of revelation. the end time is a fundamentalist christian believe that the earth will be delivered by got d as h pours out his wrath on the sinners left behind. that sound like something out of a novel. is it true that people really believe that having jerusalem unified under israel control will bring on the end times? >> yes, joy. you know i come from a fundamentalist evangelical background and i grew up in the '50s and '60s. when i was a child, this was the gospel end times version of reality that my parents believed in and many other evangelicals. and you know, you mentioned sheldon addleson as his wife miriam who are big donors. they actually shovelled $83 million into the republican

cove coffers because they wanted to see jerusalem recognized and see the dtwo-state policy -- one thing you didn't mention is another person who's worked very hard for this is john haggy who is the minister of a megachurch in houston. when news of this came out, he said, president trump when i spoke to him in the white house about this, he said other presidents have failed you, john, but i will not disappoint the christian community. when you look at this, it has nothing to do with the middle east or peace or palestinian rights or any of the difficulties that have presented themselves to responsible american political leaders. this was all about what we're so familiar with with donald trump and his nepotistic plan.

>> the "washington post" even reported that donald trump didn't appear to even really understand the issues. while trump appears to have made up his mind, he continued to solicit input, even asking random acquaintances about the middle east in recent months. several advisors said he appeared to not have a full understanding of the issue. the violence that we've seen on the streets in the west bank and gaza and the clashes, a 6 month old now in critical condition. the fact that the president of the united states didn't even think about those issues, the humanity of it, it's a little frightening for a lot of people. how could that be if he is the most popular leader among evangelical christians from the far right? >> you have to understand that

the evangelical christian movement in america latched onto a 19th century concept hatched by someone called john nelson darby who said that jesus could not come back until israel had been restored as a nation and jerusalem was the capital. this is not traditional christian teaching going back into the ages even of the protestant church. when i was a kid with my parents and their ministry, we had a number of christian leaders come by. one of them had written a book called "the late great planet earth" in which he predicted the end times coming in the 1980s. he said it's now possible because israel has been restored. people came forward and said no, no, it's not possible because jury ro jerusalem has not been restored.

fast forward and you've got 60 million copies sold that essentially are total fiction. this is as if the twilight zone had been taken as gospel by some religious group and they were going back through old episodes and basing an entire cultic kind of religion on it. you could laugh at this or dismiss it as crazy. but the problem is these folks had direct access to the president of the united states and he owes them. their approval numbers for him are dropping but not as fast as the rest on the country. this decision takes a 19th century cultic view of christian teaching and updates it through these crazy books the left behind series.

this is what evangelicals have come to believe. they think it's part of their traditional religion. it is not. when you look back at this coincidence that this is all taking place after -- on exactly the date in history in 1917 when balfore declaration was signed, giving jews the land of israel in theory, not because of theology but as a ploy to hit the turkish ottoman empire. every actor in this has been doing it for other reasons. trump throwing meat to his supporters. playing games with american evangelicals, who by the way say that when israel is restored and jesus comes back, all the jews

will be killed. think about that for a minute. and then essentially crafting a foreign policy to satisfy the adolescent fantasies of an evangelical white community that has been reared not on christianity but on this fantasy series of books called the left behind that then cashed in on hall lindsay's and other people's books. it boggles the mind. that child who is in critical condition, those people who are dying, the palestinians who are losing their rights, the poor israels, my friends in israel -- i've been there several times. my friends in israel will be living in an apartheid state where piece will keeace will ke away have a president of the united states who doesn't understand the issues, is clueless about why the evangelicals think this is part of their faith anyway. and is playing games with low

lives like john haggy and addleson and his wife miriam who are fanatics on one side who are rejected by most american jews. go figure, joy. >> rabbi rick jacobs who represents the largest single american-jewish group, he put out a statement, while we share the president's belief that the u.s. embassy should at the right time be moved from tell avooe-a jerusalem, we cannot support that now. this is megapastor robert jeffress on fox news this week. >> i believe president trump is a modern profile in courage for having the guts to do what no other american president has been willing to do. and look, those who are devout jews and christians celebrate this decision, because they believe what the baseball says

that god gave in country to israel and made jerusalem the capital 3,000 years ago. >> your final thoughts, frank? >> all i can say is, you know, quoting john haggy who leads this evangelical zionist movement, he says i believe at this point in time israel is god's stopwatch for everything that happens to every nation including america from now until the rapture of the church and beyond. okay. this is lunacy. it is driving american foreign policy. we are in deep, deep trouble. >> frank shaffer, thank you very much. we'll be back with you shortly. coming up, donald trump tries to school john lewis on sacrifice and it does not go well.

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just hours after endorsing a senate candidate who said america was last great during slavery, donald trump is expected to make remarks at the opening of a civil rights museum in jackson, mississippi. not in attendance, john lewis of georgia. both are boycotting the event due to trump's participation.

they said this. we think it's unfortunate that these members of congress wouldn't join the president in honoring the incredible sacrifice civil rights leaders made to right the injustices of our history. they forgot to add irony is dead. but presumably that was implied. mark, i'm going to come to you first and let you listen to david clark, former sheriff. i believe he's been run out of town and his badge taken away. he did make the vet to be on fox and friends, donald trump's favorite show. this is what he said about john lewis. >> what do you think of that boycott? >> john who? >> john lewis. he was bloodied on the selma bridge when he was trying to protest voting rights and

organizing sit-ins. >> are you going to let me talk? >> you asked who. so i was telling you a bit about john lewis. >> you didn't let me finish. john lewis has become one of the most irrelevant members of congress. >> i just want to get your thoughts. >> that's the sheriff. we know him. >> he's not sheriff anymore. >> we've all known him to be crazy. he's an uncle tom. we've all known that as well. if it weren't for john lewis and the civil rights moment, he would never have been a sheriff and probably wouldn't be on fox news. all of this is part of a great distraction that trump is doing. he's flailing scorched earth because he knows what's coming down the pipe with russia. it is particularly blasphemous for him to go to mississippi. mississippi was the site of the emmett till lynching in 1955. him being falsely accused and his lynches is what brought about the modern day civil

rights movement. trump would have done the same thing in 1955. that's what he did to the central park five. as far as i'm concerned, irony is not dead. there's no way he should be there. >> you had black mississippians -- the "washington post" asked them about life in the trump era. remember when donald trump said what do you have to lose? this is the answer that a man gave the "washington post." we're losing a lot, we're losing obamacare. he's making the rich richer and the poor poorer. mostly he's losing respect. the way he speaks, racists feel like they can say anything they want to us. this is the president who said the neo nazis were fine people when they marched in charlottesville. he has any number of parts of

his history that shows he has a certain predilection when it comes to race. >> in addition to the distraction from russia, he projects. he says everyone else is fake news, but he perpetrates the fake news himself. he wants to be able to go to mississippi to pretend like he cares while in reality his policies and behavior are policies that don't make america great again but make america hate again. >> the congressional black caucus said the following. it's laughable that the white house is criticizing congressman john lewis and representative benny thompson for not attending. the fact that they're not going says something pretty profound that they would not go to the opening of this searing civil rights museum because trump is going to be there. >> sure. this whole thing strains

credulity that president trump would even bother to attend something like this given his history and then try to criticize a civil rights icon like john lewis. i may disagree with john lewis on a whole host of things politically, but you cannot take away what he did and the sacrifice he made for this country. i don't understand how they think they're winning, but it goes back to a point i made last hour where perception is real y reality. trump loves to have photo ops with a bunch of black folks behind him so say, see, don't believe my own records, don't believe my words, don't believe my own lawsuits. he was sued in atlantic city by black dealers for being removed from the casino floors because

mob bosses didn't want them there and trump was trying to placate their requests. he made a horrible comment that was written about that he never disputed how he didn't want black folks counting his money. >> yeah. >> the list is long. i get it. i get why benny thompson and john lewis and others wouldn't want to be there in the same room because he's using a really important honoring of the civil rights movement and the history of mississippi and what went on there for his own selfish purposes. >> to that very point, donald trump does this sort of two step where he'll say things like he said about charlottesville, then he'll go in front of an all white crowd and say things like what he said last night at his rally very close to the border of alabama in northern florida in the panhandle. >> i love these guys. look at these guys. blacks for trump, i love you. by the way, now that you bring

it up, black homeownership just hit the highest level it's ever been in the history of our country. congratulations. >> first of all, no, black homeownership peeked at 49.4% in 2004. i believe the president was named george w. bush. what he said is blatantly not true. what is this two step? i should make note of the fact that you used to be republican. you apparently have left the republican party. what is the calculation here of doing that dance in front of a largely white audience with of course the extremist group blacks for trump who are their own special case? >> he likes to pretend he's not that which he really is. he likes to try to dispel his record. the things he said about the nfl and the players protesting

racial inequality in america, he likes to put something on twit their he knows his audience will eat up and love, but then likes to do a photo op to try to dispel the negative connotations that come with that. it's classic trump and classic trolling. he also knows on television when he says these things, look at all these black supporters, there's no shot of that. by definition that is fake news by itself. but he likes to get away with it. so he goes and trolls. what he's doing in mississippi is the ultimate troll by donald trump. it's a complete distraction from all the other things collapsing around him right now. >> any journalist who's ever done any kind of debate has known the blacks for trump are two or three people who stand behind with signs trying to get on tv. they have a very interesting

history. google them. you guys do this american values survey every year. let's talk about -- this isn't for african-americans, by the way, when donald trump does this act. it is not for the african-american community. it's really for his base. trump on african-americans, only 9% approve of him, 86% disapprove. 60% say there's virtually nothing donald trump could do to win their approval. 54% of whites say discrimination is as big a problem against white people as against minorities. 70% of republicans agree with that. this dichotomy between the way white and black america views donald trump, talk a little bit about that. >> it's one of the more troubling things in the country today to see the way that partisanship and race have really aligned.

81% of self-identified republicans are white today. we are getting this overlay between race and party. and then there is also -- i think in the last election cycle it became very evident this sense of quote, unquote, reverse discrimination, white victimhood and this sense of we will not be replaced. in fact what they said was jew will not replace us, this anti-semitic slur. the real question for me is why did governor phil bryant invite donald trump down to this thing? that's actually a really interesting question. i'm from jackson, mississippi. i'm a white guy. i was raised in jackson, mississippi. one of the things that is so clear to me is that mississippi has this history of trying to make overtures of civil rights. but when they do it's very common to pair it up with expresses of white power. so mississippi is one of only three states that celebrates robert e. lee's birthday.

mississippi, alabama and arkansas. basically they paired it with robert e. lee's birthday with martin luther king, jr.'s birthday. over and over and over again we celebrate black history month, but governor bryant has also declared april regularly during his tenure there as confederate heritage month. >>i wish we had more time. thank you guys so much. we're going to have to reassemble this panel and do it again. more after the break. my experience with usaa has been excellent.

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get your insurance quote today. okay. so sometimes on a.m. joy, my producers put things in the tell i prompter i haven't read before. like right now. i have no idea what is going to happen right now. no idea. but murray, our great director, i think i'm afraid to say this. roll the tape. >> joy reid, happy birthday. i'm lucky to be your friend. now time for my partner. >> and me, too, joy. thank you for letting us be part of the weekend empire of joy reid here and have an amazing birthday. >> happy birthday, joy. this is richard painter from minnesota. i don't think donald trump's going to be sending you a present this year.

probably not kellyanne conway or the rest of the gang. they don't have me on their list either. >> i just want to wish you a happy birthday. i love you. i love that you help us stay sane in this crazy time. have grate day. >> do my dear friend joy reid. happy birthday. >> thank you. what a wonderful time in your life to be on tv sharing your opinions with the world. even though sometimes we don't agree. >> happy birthday, joy. >> happy birthday, joy! >> hi! >> we just want to say happy birthday. ♪ happy birthday to joy happy birthday to joy ♪ >> i love you. happy birthday. i'm so grateful you were born. you educate me every saturday and sunday whenever you pop-up on someone else's show. you are a gift to us. thank you for your interlekt you'll love you, wisdom and

nerdiness. happy birthday. >> happiest of birthdays to one of the great women of television. happy birthday, joy. >> happy birthday, joy. since today is your birthday, we all need to ask again, why does jared kushner still have a security clearance? >> happy birthday, joy reid. friend of the people, enemy of those who come with lies. there will be no lies in the house of joy. no lies. >> my mother says happy birthday. she wants to know the next time you're coming in town because she's going to cook up a storm and feed you every jamaican dish you can think of from a to z. >> hi, joy. happy birthday. many, many more. >> i love you a lot. i'm sitting up here looking like aunt jamima wishing you happy birthday in front of all these people. i'm going to put on lipstick so i can feel better about this in case it goes viral. you can see that i still have some sense left. not much since 2016 election.

but just some. >> hi there. it's pam oliver. joy, i am here to wish you a happy birthday! i hope you have a great day. keep kicking butt and taking names. you rock. thank you for being such a good role model. happy birthday, girl. >> from your former home in sonny south florida. happy birthday wishes to my friend joy reid. >> i want to wish you a happy birthday and tell you i'm not regretting my choice standing outside in rain storm. it's beautiful out. >> happy birthday. >> so cute. >> happy birthday, joy. the only thing better on this great occasion is the fact that navy is going to beat army today and your birthday is awesome too. happy birthday. >> hi, joy. i'm juvest one of your many fan wishing you a very happy birthday today. have a good time and enjoy. we love you so very much. happy, happy birthday, joy.

>> happy birthday to my fellow weekend warrior joy reid. i love you. happy birthday. >> happy birthday, joy. >> oh, my god. okay. that is so awesome. thank you guys so much. i don't know when they did all of that. but you guys are so wonderful. thank you, thank you, thank you. this was the best birthday ever. it's not just my birthday. this is what i want to shout out is this lady's birthday. kathleen gordon, the grandma i stole from my husband. he thinks she's his grandma but she's my grandma. and we love you, kathleen gordon who is my birthday twin. we have our birthdays one day apart. i love you. love you, love you. and one more thing. a picture of the team. we all got together and sell bralted my birthday with so many of the guests that you see on this show all the time. jonathan capar and tamron was there. we had such a great time. mark was there. we had a great time. i love my team. i love, love, love, love you guys. i love the viewers as well. all the people that did that

video, you're awesome. that surprised me. that was amazing. oh, my god! i'm over it though. (laughter) that's fine. i miss her more than you anyway. ♪ ♪ hey, my window is closing. yeah that's okay. alright miles. i love you. (phone hangs up) ♪ ♪ yeah i love you too. ♪ ♪

that is our show today. a.m. joy will be back tomorrow. and up next, alex wiltt. tricky videos. well, you're executive producer can you do there? yeah, where do we go. i hope you had a great day yesterday. it's all great today.

thank you so much, joy. good day to all of you. it is just about 9:00 a.m. out in the west. it is noon here in the east. here's what's happening courting controversy. president jump in a matter of minutes expected to make a speech at the opening of the civil rights museum in mississippi. >> and roy moore, the candidate accused of sexual misconduct. we will tell what you happen at a rally. necessity dials of a new report of agents talking about russians reaching out to hope hicks, one of president trump's long time aides. why did they try to contact her specifically? we've got some answers next. but we begin with breaking news this hour. the president now in jackson, mississippi about, a half hour or so from ng